Friday, February 12, 2010

Environics Poll reveals 79.6% of Canadians support the Marshall Savings Plan for inclusion in Budget 2010

TORONTO, Feb. 12 /CNW/ - A nationwide survey conducted by Environics Research during the period Feb 4-9 by way of 1,000 random telephone calls indicates that 79.6% of Canadians from across the country support the Marshall Savings Plan for inclusion in Budget 2010.

The Marshall Plan has been designed to deal with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's income trust policy fiasco that has caused three times as much tax leakage than was alleged to have existed in the first place, caused by the 51 takeovers of vulnerable income trusts by foreigners, state-owned enterprises and other non taxable entities causing the permanent loss of $1.5 billion in annual tax revenue to Ottawa.

Ironically, support for inclusion of the Marshall Savings Plan is strongest amongst identified Conservative voters, with a support level of 85.1%, followed by NDP voters at 83.3%.

The Marshall Savings Plan will deal with Canada's $56 billion annual deficit crisis by protecting the $6 billion in annual tax revenue currently collected from the remaining 169 trusts and deal with Canada's pension crisis by preserving an essential profit sharing investment vehicle for the 75% of Canadians without pensions and place them on a more level playing field with the 25% of Canadians with pensions.

Full details of the Marshall Savings Plan as well as comments from over 600 Canadians in support of the Plan are available at MarshallPlan.ca, such as this comment from Diana in Calgary:

"I have found that most of my income trust units in my RRSP have been sold to foreign companies. We continue to sell our country at bargain basement prices to foreigners. My income has been cut in half due to this. and I am afraid I will have to be applying for a old age supplement soon"

or this comment from a retired couple in Stouffville, Ontario:

"The Marshall Savings Plan is a solution to the least thought out policy by a Canadian Government in our lifetime. Losing income trusts is a true hardship for the 75% of us with no pensions."

For further information: A full copy of the Environics polling survey is available immediately upon request by emailing MarshallPlan@rogers.com or calling (647) 505-2224

EVENTS

Income Trust Halloween VigilThanks to all who participated in both the Ottawa and Calgary vigils to mark the anniversary of the announcement.

WE"D LIKE SOME ANSWERS

As you well know, the ‘income trust thing’ has grown beyond the
question of whether fair taxes are paid on income from trusts. It’s
become a giant dirty snowball, and as it rolls forward it accumulates
more and more bulk. There are so many unanswered questions. Let's list a few and invite our "Accountable" government and our free press to provide some much-needed answers.

It is said “Trusts are inefficient use of capital. Why?” Two
related questions are ‘Whose money is it, anyway?’, and ‘Do Canadian
investors have a free and efficient market?’

How can information that is already in the public domain at SEDAR
make for a state secret? How could such information be used to harm
the Canadian national interest? And who would cause the harm?

Why won’t the Canadian media investigate the falsehoods and
misrepresentations told by the Minister of Finance to a committee of
Parliament? Was the Minister in contempt of Parliament?

Why won’t the Canadian media report (a) government tax revenues
gained from BCE in 2006 when BCE was a corporation to (b) government
tax revenues that would be gained in 2007 from BCE, if BCE had been
allowed to proceed to a trust, and (c) government tax revenues that
will be gained in 2007 from BCE, when BCE ownership has been carved
up as 45% foreign ownership and 55% large Canadian pension fund
ownership?